AUQ: Part 1: Chapters 1-7

[Sky]

Please keep all discussion to the events and speculation from chapters 1-7

No spoiler tags required. Though it would be highly appreciated if you Uncheck Add to my Update Feed to avoid accidentally spoiling this for your good read friends.

Please do not discuss events from later chapters. Referring back to events from a previous section/book is fine.

[Scott]

Boomshakalaka!

[Scott]

Just started the Prologue. Pretty cool getting to see how Todd gets the heave-ho

[Sky]

hehe...yeah, I'm in the prologue as well.

[Scott]

Was hoping for less Brit on this one but looks like we're back with her. That whole story line confuses the shit outta me. Time travel in fiction generally does but hers even more so than usual.

Hope we get to see Jimmy continue to work with the Wizards, instead of against them. He's an interesting one.

Also wonder how much, if any, we get to see the treasury agents. Looks like they're having their own experiences with the file. Might have to make a trip to Martin's time

[Sky]

Haha yeah, Brit's time travel is confusing. From what I remember trying to figure it out in the last book, she'd have to be living in a time loop repeating the same actions over and over, or creating infinitely many timelines.

I am loving the video game quest. The scene when they arrive and the guy keeps repeating the same line over and over is hilarious. Classic RPG. Then they try to fuzz his inputs to produce an error. And then Tyler figures out the game is coded to have the ground disintegrate right behind him so there is no need to run, and the whole invisible polygons with the pine cone bouncing off invisible walls. The best part is figuring out the wolf timing. Reminds me of so many NES games.

Being time travelers, I am surprised there isn't a lot more time travelling to the past/future to try and fix problems. It would easily end up a mess, but why don't they ever say travel to to future when they have already figured something out, have older Martin tell younger Martin what to do, go back, and do it. Or travel back before something happened and prevent it from happening in the first place.

The one thing that bugged me is how they access the file. There is no internet in the past, no magical line from the past to the present that would allow them to say ssh into a machine that hosted the file in the future and modify it. What file are they actually modifying when they are living in the past? The book implies their C64s, cell phones, Amigas, etc are all connected to the future copy of the file.

Anywhoo, the 3rd book is great so far. Definitely liking it better than the last book.

I am doing this book on audio while reading Half the World in book form, so progress will be a little slower, especially until Tuesday when I start commuting to work again. But I'll probably finish part I of HtW, then come back and read the next 7 chapters of AUQ.

[Suzanne]

I dislike the time travel a lot - and I HATE that they say 'oh we can just make our friend alive again by time travelling." That's cheating! But I'm liking this one more than book 2 because at least time travel isn't the focus.

The badly-done rpg is fun!

[Rob, Mayor of Ghost Town]

Everyone needs to get their friends to read this series (or at least the ones that like it). I really missed these characters. I'd like to think I contributed to some (all?) of you checking it out.

I've been talking about it on goodreads for a year or so, but it doesn't seem to be gaining much momentum like Ready Player One did. I just don't have that much influence on Goodreads outside of people in this group maybe (if that).

Mind you it's not as good, but they are still a lot of fun and I'd bet most people who like that book will like this series as well.

I have no idea if there will be a 4th book, but already I hope so. I'd bet he got a 3 book deal, and unless it becomes more popular, I doubt we'll get any more. And that would make me sad.

Anyways...


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I wasn't bothered too much by the time travel/Brit thing. And I'm glad Brit is back. At least the younger one. His first book badly lacked for women, so it's good that Gwen and Brit will at least have some part of this book.

I didn't mind Brit the Elder in book 2, but she is annoying me here. She keeps answering Brit's questions for Gwen & co. rather than letting them answer themselves. That's just obnoxious. I like the snark towards her younger self and the bickering between them, but I don't remember her talking for other people as much. Maybe I've just forgotten.

Also, I thought she was down to one Brit though. Didn't the younger Brit leave to go found Atlantis? Maybe I'm miss-remembering. It definitely gets confusing. I guess Philip is dating the "younger" Brit so she can't have left? Or is younger Brit the older Brit and Older Brit is Oldest Brit? I somehow vaguely recall there being an even older Brit at the end of the last one. Or something. Ah my head hurts trying to think too much about it. lol. Whatever...

And I don't mind that they can undo stuff with Time Travel. I want these books to remain light and fun. I really hope Jeff isn't dead. I hope they somehow work a way to save him from his fall and take him out of there and back to after they finish the game or something.

Same with Sky's issues about internet etc. He did some hand wavy stuff in book 1. I'm not reading this for it's realism. I just don't spend much time in thought. I sit back and enjoy the ride. Though I know some people can't turn their brains off like that.


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You all are finished already so you know the answer to this, but Brit the Elder slipped up at least once that she acknowledged, but it sounds like she did it more than once. She seemed to mention them rescuing 3 of them. So that sounds like someone else might die. So again I hope it's not permanent.

I like all these characters, including Jimmy. Then again if this is the final book of a 3 book deal he may have no qualms about killing people off if he doesn't expect to write another one again.

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I'm loving all the video game stuff here too. I think it's pretty awesome Jeff Todd went back to make games in the 80s. That's probably when I'd want to do it too. Although knowing what I know now, my childhood ambition to make video games is kind of dead. I'd rather play them then make them.

I've coded a few games, most of them text based, and it's too much work.

It's definitely making for a good setting though.


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And man Luke Daniels is so great again. This series is one that should be done in audio, or you're really missing out.

[Rob, Mayor of Ghost Town]

Holy wall of text Batman! Hopefully I split that up alright.

If it was me, I'd see all that text and probably start skimming. But once I get going on stuff I tend to just keep adding to it. lol.

[Richard]

Your review (among others) led me to this series. I hope for many more to come.

[Sky]

Same here! And I read your entire post :)

[Kat]

Finally got round to this!

[Suzanne]

Oh good. It's nice reading happy things :)